How Many Here Are Two Income Families?
 

I in wanting to have a family, also wanted to be able to have my wife stay at home.

Alas that hasn't happened.
While I make a decent pay cheque and am grateful for every penny, we also find it hard to provide a living for our family on just one Paycheque.

I often comment when people look at my signature that upon seeing my signature for the first time, my then future wife to be said, "you should have been a Doctor!"
I then say, "yeah, and when she sees my paycheques she says, you really should have been a Doctor!":hypercoffee

Seriously, am I the only one who finds things expensive, or is it just because I live in a major city with a high cost of living?

My wife started a second job that goes from 9 PM till 1 AM Mon-Fri just because she can find no baby sitter in the daytime.

This isn't a thread to complain, but to compare.

"Do you think that parents need a dual income nowadays to make ends meet?

We did one income for six years and it was not easy. I just started working part-time and it's still not easy. I guess we are just not suppose to get to comfortable here. This world is not our home, we are just passing thru.

We're just a one income family, but I have been a good steward of our finances, and we get along just well on one income...my wife has been a stay-at-home for about 2.5 years...


....bro, do you live on a budget? Have you managed your finances with a program such as Quicken to see how your bottom line is doing? You will find that helpful, IMO.


The question we have to ask ourselves is: How am I managing "Me, Inc"...would I invest into my company as a shareholder because of how my company "Me, Inc" is managed....tough questions to ask, but necessary.

One income. My wife is an unemployed RN. I work long hours to make the numbers come out, but we feel it is worth it.

Kristin and I feel it is the will of God for her to be with the children at this time, so the monetary value is not a primary factor in the decision.

Yes everything is expensive, I agree.

I agree about the budget. We do it too, but a lot depends on the income (jota-piedra).

True, but in Canada Gas is almost 5 bucks a gallon! House prices are $800,000
for a new house in the cheapest part of town.
Rent prices reflect that.

We don't live in a major city with high cost of living!

I don't know of one couple that one ofd them didn't make a hgundred grand or more a year.

:faint:faint:faint

Yeah, and the clincher is we make more oil than we consume.
We export a Million Barrels or more a day to the States every day!
Gas prices should be about 2 bucks a gallon!

Rob- Some choose to have the wife work a little bit so that Dad can spend some time with the kids rather than working a second job and never being home. Many ways to skin a cat...:hypercoffee

We're going from two incomes to one...we'll be fine, but it'll be tight. My wife has only "worked" for one year, so we're actually somewhat accustomed to living on my income.

When our children were small I was able to be a stay at home mom since my husbands' job was adequate for our needs.( this was the 70's)
We moved to another state, and instead of the good railroad job my husband chose to pastor a home missions church in a small town in a state with low wages. In less than a year I had to find a job in order to keep us afloat.
When we moved our youngest was 2 yrs old. I didn't take a full time job until she was 4. In a perfect world I would have stayed at home, but it wasn't a choice.
We had a low interest home loan as 1st time buyers,and were very careful with our finances but ....sometimes there just isn't an alternative. This particular state has one of the highest rate of working mothers in the usa.

In todays' world the wages are better, inflation is reasonable>>>except for gas and medical expenses and health insurance, but when I see young couples I wonder how they survive.
Our kids are grown , we both work fulltime , and we have enough, but not if I had to buy groceries for 5 or 6, and school clothes, etc
I admire the stay at home moms, but would never judge the gal who had to find a job.

By the way, I had no idea expenses in Canada were that much more than in the USA. :groan I live in a metro area over 800,000, and for $500,000 you're in the classier neighborhoods and have a four car garage. The median income is about $ 52,000.

I see! Good way to put it.

Well, we live in a very growing area! There are certainly areas arounf Canada & even in B.C. where one can afford a cheaper living.
Our economy is booming as well, thus the demand for new houses, things etc,

we live on one income. i worked until i got PG....my working was "play" money. we never depended on it. we do have a budget and stick to it. it is well worth it getting to stay home with my son. my husband is a good manager of money. we do not want for anything...

Dave Ramsey Dave Ramsey Dave Ramsey!

Live like no one else today so you can live like no one else tomorrow!

BTW I am doing better than I deserve! :)

This is also something we have discussed and practiced for a while, when Kristin worked the night shift. In our case it added to the frustration since outside childcare was still needed if she was to get the proper hours of sleep before and after her shift. I do not work two jobs but work very long hours certain times of the year. This is rewarded with a "slow" season when I do spend increased time with the family.

There was a time when I considered becoming a ful-time stay at home dad... - seriously. :sshhh

The way it should be.

IMHO Plan B, should entail the husband staying with the children... plan x, y or z should be institutionalized daycare... (last resort)

We might not need a dual income to make ends meet but it sure makes living more comfortable. I would never want my husband to carry the entire burden of supporting the family. I'm glad that I am able to help. After staying at home three months when my child was around four, I decided I was a much better mom after working instead of being home all day. JMHO

My wife and I from the beginning agreed that our children would never go to day care or be latch key kids.

My kids have always had mama at home. We do not want any one else raising our kids or miss out on them growing up.

My wife how ever has been watching one to two kids for some one else at home.

She gets paid, the kids have a Friend to play with and mama is always home.

She also has grandma to set with the kids while she cleans a house once a week.

My wife also works at a Baptist church two days a week doing a "Mothers Day Out" ministry and takes all of the kids including the ones she watches.

The older of our kids help, the younger get to play and our 15 year old earns some money too.

The kids have always had mama.

Mama has always had money with out taking a full time job away from the kids.

God has blessed us BIG TIME!!!!

I stayed home with my kids when they were young except for a cleaning job. Only in the last year and a half have I worked as much as 30 hours a week. Some of you have watched my saga as a domestic violence advocate. I will never ever regret taking that job, but, just yesterday I did give my two weeks notice. I am taking a library position and going back to school. The library position has less pay, worse hours and less prestige. But hey, you gotta do what you feel is right and I feel this is right for me now.

But back to the topic. I believe that God gives the primary responsibility of bringing home the money to the man. If a woman is going to work, I think it should be "play money" if at all possible (which is isn't always). One thing about having only one paycheck for so many years....we really learned to budget and make a penny scream. I think the challenge is good for people because you learn just how far you really can make it on so much money.

I don't regret staying home with my children at all. If I had to do it over, I would have gotten a little job though. I did have a cleaning job but I was not interacting with any people.....something I needed. And I know this probably won't be popular, but I would have went to church less and spent more time with my family and perhaps a small part time (less than 20 hours) job, just to give me some time away from the kids. I would probably not have left my kids with a sitter. I spent so much time in church back then and doing church activities that I was utterly exhausted. I thought I had to.